Fight The Dead
by happysmilebtr
Summary: Rick's group settles in a prison which is all fun and games until both glenn and maggie disappear from a run and then, a mysterious women shows up. barely alive and who finds her? daryl dixon, upon first glance he regrets noticing the girl but what happens if he slowly warms up to her? but what the group doesn't know, is she has secrets of her own {takes place during season 3}
1. Prologue

(hello people! quite a long time since i made a story on here xD but i am here with a walking dead fanfic! yes you had heard that right, a zombie story from the amazing tv/comic series! now i am going to be doing this based of the tv show and add some comic book elements in here and there. i did however post this out on my polyovre and some people seem to like it? so i figured to put it out in the big league :) hopefully the response will be good on here! so here is the prologue!)

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***TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO***

Hayley ran her fingers through her thick, black hair as she was sitting on her bed at her dorm, yes she is a twenty three year old in college but is that a bad thing? who knows really, it all depends on what she is studying and she's studying art, something she had picked up during the course of her life and fell in love with it, she doesn't brag she's the best artist but she does like to say she is an ok one. glancing up from her copy of 'The Hunger Games' she saw a news broadcast live at someplace, that actually wasn't far from her college

"we are live near the downtown area with some more news on this epidemic that has been..." Hayley rolled her eyes while shaking her head, news like this doesn't surprise her, last time it was something about the some pig flu and she's alive right? so nothing to worry about. she was about to turn off the news when something horrible has happened. so...gross if you can describe it that way... that is unexplainable. the dark haired couldn't help but have a baby barf and cringe at what she was watching, the newscaster was being eaten...alive by a human! or what looked like a human. it was a human body but it was...making inhuman sounds. like it was growling.

after what felt like hours she turned off her television and quickly grabbed her phone, about to dial her roommate's number but there was no answer. _perfect!_ she thought as she shakily ran her fingers through her hair _calm Hayley, there's nothing to worry about. maybe its a prank _she told herself, yeah a prank that looked so real! why would someone want to do a prank that involved with human's eating human's? it didn't seem anything realistic to her!

but nonetheless, she still went ahead and grabbed a backpack and started to pack anything that came to the top of her head, food, water, health aid, everything. why was she packing? well who wouldn't start packing after they see someone be eaten on live tv. she bit her bottom lip as she pulled out her pocket knife and swallowed hard, who knows if she may need to ya know, prick someone with it but better safe then sorry right? her heart stopped when she heard someone was at the door and instead of knocking...it was scratching. and instead of talking...growling, moaning...that was impossible right

? those...things cant be on campus yet, but granted the place wasn't far from where the broadcast was shot right? Hayley placed her stuff on the ground and slowly walked over to the door and took a deep breath _please don't eat me, please don't eat me _she was constantly repeating that to herself as she turned the doorknob, letting out a yell when someone pushed her down onto the ground. panic was shown on her face but she did manage to take a good look on who that person was and it was dan...her ex. her ex boyfriend was trying to devour her like she's sushi!

his eyes were a strange green-yellow like color, a familiar crimson color was on his neck and on his shirt. _god what happened!?_ she thought, managing to push him off of her and quickly got up, finding herself in the little kitchen and grabbed whatever was close, which in her case was a pan. gripping onto it tightly as she watched the ex human stagger over to her "sorry dan" she mumbled as she took a good hit on his head, watching the head crush like it was made of foam. staring down at the body as she was breathing heavily. this is now the beginning of a new world and she wasn't liking it. not one bit

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(so i know this is not perfectly like SunnseanicArts's amazing five part walking dead/boondock saints crossover i know -which i give her credit for giving me inspiration a bit on some of the writing!- but give me a chance! i have six chapters written so i will post the prologue and first chapter and see how it goes :) hopefully you guys can give me a review and/or like it?)


	2. One

(well, like said i would post the first chapter as well :) enjoy!)

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***PRESENT DAY***

the cool breeze blew in the petite's hair and face, taking in a deep breath letting out a soft sigh. two and a half years, practically three years really if you think about it, Hayley managed to live. heh, live. there were many times where she wanted to just give up...like her friends did but she didn't. she didn't give up not once, something told her to keep moving but she never really gave it a thought on what forced her to keep moving but she was glad. she stopped walking in the middle of the road when one of the little kids ran past her, causing her to softly chuckle. who knew she can still be living...normally, while the dead is walking around. all thanks to woodbury.

for two and a half years she was living in this town that was now home, she was one of the very first nine people that lived in the now big town. she helped the governor, who runs the town, build the forts, wipe out walkers, get supplies. everything. this was heaven...for everyone that was alive in this world now. it was a bit funny to see people acting as if nothing had happened on the inside of those walls while on the outside it was hell on wheels. this town had everything, it had shelter, it had food, it had doctors, heck even had running water and electricity! now that's rare my friends.

she pulled on her beanie as she folded her arms and just watched people walk about, talking and kids playing when she took sight of merle with some of the other guys, Martinez, schumpert, and some other guys she didn't pay attention. merle was the governor's pet, he did all of the dirty work for the guy even though he has one hand. how he managed to live and survive an infested Atlanta she didn't know but when they found him, he was drunk as eff. hiding out ontop of some roof saying everyone is out to get him while waving around his bloody chopped off hand. the guy sawed off his own hand! all because his old group cuffed him ontop of some roof and left him with the walkers. sounded cruel yes Hayley does admit that but then again, can't blame the group. he is a well, sexist person for sure, that and he is just plain a d-bag!

her eyes locked with merle's who smirked, making the dark haired roll her eyes _asshole_ she thought as she went back to walking only to hear merle's voice behind "woah sweetheart where yer think yer going?" she didn't answer him just went on with her walking, she wanted to talk with the governor, correction. the governor needed to talk to her right now but dixon was sort of in the way. "hey im talking to you sugar tits!" again, she didn't reply but was stopped by someone grabbing roughly by her arm and of course it was merle "haven't you learned it ain't nice to walk when someone talks to yer?" he spat while Hayley shrugged "I was told not to talk to strangers" she softly said while looking at him, who had a smirk on his face, did I forget to mention he tried getting in her pants all of the time?

"oh now sweetheart, we ain't no strangers here, we know each other very well if you ask me. don't know why yer acting like I did yer wrong" "that's because you're an ass merle" she said as she went back to walking "mind telling me where yer going?" hearing merle's boots hit the across the sidewalk as he followed her _leave already! _she thought but didn't say that shockingly "going to talk to the governor" she mumbled, hearing his chuckle behind her "ah, going to talk to yer-" "yes I am, now go and play Barbie's with your friend's merle" she snapped at him, she didn't like it when people talked about the governor around her. not at all. "okay, just making sure. why don't you stop on by my place, sure is lonely" she looked over her shoulder and snorted "when pigs fly I will" she mumbled, opening the door to the governor's office and leaving merle outside.

you would think that woodbury was complete mess with the houses but you're wrong. it looks like that nothing bad happened here. not one ounce of walker guts was found here, just clean cut and simple living. she knocked on the door to his office, hearing a faint 'come in' inside the room and walked inside. the governor's office was like any normal office. had a desk of course, chairs, rugs, lamps, random shiz all around. the guy was charming, attractive even truth be told. he could charm any person, not just a women, anyone and have them wrapped around his fingers. she never understood how he got this place to work but he did and she gave him props on that. she put her hands in her back pockets as she walked up to him

"wanted to see me?" the governor slowly nodded his head as he looked up from his writing "sit" and she did what she was told. she leaned back in the chair as she looked at him, waiting on what he wanted to tell her "we got new people. two to be exact, I was wondering if you could show them around. give them a tour" the governor spoke up after what felt like hours. Hayley slowly nodded her head _that was his big thing to tell me_? she thought "ok...anything else?" she asked as the governor shook his head "no nothing" she stood up and scratched her arm and looked at him "how's the studying going?" she softly asked, let's just say this 'governor' guy has some secrets behind closed doors.

not everyone knew about them, only her, merle, maritnez and Milton. he was the town 'nerd' if you were to label him, he always did some testing and took track of stuff, he's a good man really. "its going well actually" he softly replied with a small nod and went back to his writing. Hayley looked at him for a bit longer before heading out of the office and out on her way to show the new people the town. she didn't know them very well cause of course they are new, but she did know their names. michone and andrea, both female. one was a blonde who didn't seem so stupid to things and the other was a African American who kept a katana with her. but she wasn't much of a talker from the looks of it.

she walked over to the infirmary or the so called infirmary for the town and leaned against the door frame "well ladies, hope you don't mind if I give you a tour of this place now would ya?" she asked, looking at the two that she had interrupted talking between the two. michone said anything, she just looked at her and honestly she had a to roll her shoulders back. the look gave her chills for some strange reason "thank you" andrea said with a small smile. _well at least one of them is friendly_ "follow me then"

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nighttime fell quickly and Hayley was done for the day. she wanted to finally plop down on her bed and sleep but once again she was called in for the governor, she never understood why he called her in at times but she didn't say anything really. she got out of the shower and lazily put on some sweat pants, not bothering to change her top really but took off her denim vest and walked to the governor's office once again but bumped into none other then merle who walked out of the office "if you wanted some action sweetheart should of said somethin'." merle smirked while Hayley softly groaned "not now merle, go and pleasure yourself, have still one working hand" she mumbled and was about to walk inside the office when he stopped her

"why didn't we hook up?" Hayley raised an eyebrow and looked at the one handed man over her shoulder "hook up?" she asked as he nodded his head "loud and clear" she lightly chuckled and shrugged her shoulder "well might be because you called me a bitch and a all now good for nothing slut" she fake smiled as merle chuckled "got a way of words don't I?" she nodded her head and slowly opened the door "that or...your stomach doesn't attract me" she smirked and entered inside. granted, the guy was a pain in the behind so many times but she managed to get along with him to some degree that is. she looked around the room and found the governor having a drink of his fine whisky and sat down with a glass in his hand "drink?" she shook her head, she wasn't much of a drinker anyway. "so...may I ask what do you want from me this time?" "actually I have a request for you" he said which caused her to raise her eyebrows, wondering what he had in mind "okay...which is?"

the governor got up after taking a gulp of the drink and walked over to the next room, her fallowing him behind. stopping in front of a grand piano. don't ask her how he gets this stuff, she doesn't know it herself yet knows the governor like no other "I want you to play" she looked up at him and shrugged her shoulder, she sat down on the bench and ran her fingers over the keys. smooth and a bit dusty but dust don't do no harm anyways "have any requests?" she asked, causing him to chuckle "same one as always" he said with a nod and waited for her to start playing _whatever you say old man_ she thought as she slowly started to play, it wasn't a well known piece. it was a melody she came up at the top of her head when being ten, she had learned piano from her mother who sadly wasn't alive when everything went bad so she was lucky for that.

her mother didn't have to go through the horror of living in the world that is now full of the dead walking. she continued to play as the governor left her be, walking over to his secret room that was kept lock for no one to enter. he opened his safe slowly and sat down in an arm chair that was right in front of it before opening the cage door inside the safe. sitting down and waiting patiently. soon a small child walked out with its bag over its head. the governor slightly smiled and pulled the child, which was a girl, closer to him and took off the bag slowly. right away, the child snarled at him and tried attacking him but he didn't budge and didn't flinch. just acted as if nothing was wrong

Hayley bit her bottom lip as she heard the familiar growling from that small room and swallowed hard. stopping for a second and letting out a shaky breath _why did he keep her? he should have shot like I told him to _she shook her head and rubbed her arm. he was sick to keep his walker daughter, there was no way of her coming back but he didn't budge it and insisted in keeping her alive. she told him he was crazy to think that, telling Milton to do tests to see how to get her back to normal but they were pointless. once you turn, you're not human anymore. slowly Hayley went back to playing knowing he would have a fit if she would stop completely. let's just say not everything in woodbury is picture perfect

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(now yes this chapter doesn't really make sense I know, its just gibberish but I wanted to give away the sort of basics of the hole story for now which is Hayley is living in woodbury which of course takes place in season three and is in some sort of cahoots with the governor -can you guess what it is?- so yeah, no drama or anything of that sorts but you guys did find out a bit of things here. yes we will see daryl and the rest of the prison group but I am taking my time with this, season four is airing now so if I would skip all the way to the finale of season three it wouldn't make fully sense now would it? this chapter is not based on an episode fully but it would be placed in episode 3; Walk With Me which I know in the states and maybe UK -read it that its there somewhere or I might be completely wrong!- you guys could watch this episode on Netflix so hopefully you guys will like this chapter, I know it is very slow and sucky but I promise we will get to the good stuff soon! tell me in the comments if liked it or not as well :).)


	3. Two

the next morning things were going nice and slow, Hayley was walking around while having an apple in her hand, heh funny how normally you can't do that anymore when outside the walls but she was in a mood for apple eating. as for the new people? andrea, michone and this military guy they found in a chopper, well all is good. andrea seems nice enough but isn't dumb or so she can tell. michone...she isn't a talker but doesn't like to play around that's for sure. Hayley stopped when she saw the gates being open and instead of seeing one car she saw three cars...military cars. this bought everyone's attention to what was going on cause this was new.

very new and very strange for the girl. she moved some of her hair out of her eyes as she watched the governor walk out of the car and whisper something to Milton and merle, what that was? she didn't know but it did make merle walk away and instantly she knew what was the true story for the vehicles _figures_ she thought to herself as she scoffed, taking a bit out of her apple and watched the governor make his speech

"we brought in three new people yesterday. one was a helicopter pilot with a national guard outfit, even though he was clinging to life...he told us about his convoy on the highway, his men. i promised...i'd bring them back here alive" the governor said while nodding his head slightly, looking out to the crowd of people "but they didn't have our walls or our fences...biters got there before we did" he said while swallowing hard. of course the news sadden people at what was being told but not Hayley. no, this story did not make her upset. in fact, something else was filled her up, anger? but it wasn't anger for the so called biters killing the men. she glanced over at michone who was sitting down not far from the crowd and she seemed to not be buying the story as well as Hayley wasn't.

"now, the men had trucks, the truck had weapons, food, medicine, things we need. now we didn't know them, but we'll honor their sacrifice by not taking what we have here for granted. won't be long before dark, so go on home" the governor said "be thankful for what you have...watch out for each other." he finished his speech and got off from the truck as people started to head back to what they were doing. Hayley gritted her teeth and was about to walk up to the governor when she saw blondie aka andrea walk up to him and start chatting with him. she'll let this slide for now...

later on at night Hayley slipped out of her room, considering the governor had this strict rule that no one, and I mean **no one**was allowed to be out at dark it would be a bit hard to get to his place. she needed to talk with the governor fast. it was important to her truthfully. she managed not to get seen by the men out on duty protecting the wall, making her up to the door to the governor's place and knocked on the door repeatedly. she wasn't going to stop knocking until he answers and thankfully he did, only to have his eyebrow raised at her sight "you should be in bed" he said while she rolled her eyes _bed my ass _she thought as she followed him inside, not caring if one of his mistress was asleep "we need to talk" she simply said as she watched the man pour some whisky into his glass "it can wait in the morning"

"no it cant and you know why" she said as she just stared at him, looking at some facial expression but it seemed like nothing hit him or anything. figuring this was her chance to talk she sighed "where did you get the guns?" she asked, she perfectly took notice of the new guns he gotten "like I said, the convoy had things we needed" "that doesn't answer my question" she told him, raising her voice just a bit but it was still soft "where did you get them" she repeated as she watched him take off the key necklace he was wearing and open the door to his 'special room' but she didn't give up and slowly followed him. no one was allowed in this room, no one! she was just an exception of course.

she swallowed hard as she entered the lit room, the room still gave her the creepy shiver on the back of her neck, if this is what he calls 'therapeutic' then she must of lost her mind then "you stole them didn't you?" she asked, silence from the governor as she shook her head _why do I bother even asking? _"who told you that you have the right to take them?" she asked him "biters got-" "cut the bullshit already! you and I know perfectly well on what **really** happened so you can go ahead and tell all of those sugar coated lies to everyone in this town but not me" she said as every word she said was like venom.

the governor took in a deep breath as he looked at her before looking straight ahead at his tank full of water...and heads...walker heads. dead heads from people. she swallowed hard as she looked at the stacked up fish tanks and noticed three new additions to his collection. two were the walkers from the two women they took in and another one...made her furrow her eyebrows and clench her fist. it was the pilot from the chopper. she shook her head and closed her eyes, how can he seem normal yet he has a twisted mind? he was perfectly fine before all of this and now? now he's a ticking time bomb "you could have just taken the men in ya know" she said before walking out, slamming the door shut on her way out. the governor leaned back more in his arm chair as he rubbed his chin, knowing perfectly what he needed to do

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Hayley finished eating breakfast and planned on sleeping in cause she wasn't having any good sleep for the past week, she got under the covers and shut her eyes. almost falling asleep when she heard a knock on her door, her eyes shutting open and groaned _leave me alone!_ she put the pillow over her head and prayed the person would leave but instead the knocking continued which made her finally get up "im up, im up" she muttered as she stomped over to the door, opening wide open with a snappy "what?" and to her surprise. she saw merle, having a grin for some weird reason and chuckling "hey now darlin' no need to be mad, just wannted to invite you out" "like a date?" Hayley snorted and leaned against the door frame, crossing her arms across her chest

"you can interpret that anyway you want sugar, yer going out on a run with me" he said as his thick accent echoed in her ears. a run? since when did merle took interest in going sudden runs with her? they were usually up against their throats when being out on runs "what's the catch?" she asked while narrowing her eyes at the redneck, only to hear hir response as a laugh "oh catch? someone's a comedic!" merle exclaimed before putting on a smile "no catch, just out on a run to get some food" he said with a nod. Hayley sighed as she debated whether or not to go and looked back at her bed. "fine...give me a couple of minutes to get ready" she mumbled "that's the spirit sugar" merle said before leaving her to get changed, not bothering to fetch out new clothes so she just wore her clothes from two days ago.

_can a women get a good sleep? nooo, she cant cause some crazy one handed guy wants something out of her! I swear we should have left the redneck's drunk ass up on that roof_ she thought bitterly, she wasn't much of a morning person. once she tied her last boot she grabbed her double blades and secured them around her wrists. double checking if it was tightly secured and if the blades easily went out when needed _thank you video games_ she thought to herself as she grabbed her pistol on her way out the door. yeah she was a gaming nerd so sometimes she did pick up things from them, like the hidden blades from Assassin's creed. it did help out a lot while surrounded by walkers.

granted, took her time to master it but with her being flexible, it paid off. she ran her fingers through her hair as she took of her beanie and put it back on and made her way to a car but was stopped by none other then merle "woah now, we ain't going on wheels, we're going on foot sugar" he said while she rolled her eyes "it would be faster then on foot plus we can get more food as well" she told him while merle shook his head with his lips in a straight line "no can do, now let's go" he said and started to walk towards the gates as Hayley stood there for a second, following the men with a knife arm.

walking seemed like forever cause of course they were on foot and not in a car which confused her. if going on a supply run for food, wouldn't it be better with a vehicle? plus why doesn't merle have a backpack to put the food in? "where the heck are we going?' she spoke up after the long silence "slow and steady sugar, no need to worry" merle said as he stabbed a walker in the head that was nearby "so...sudden supply run? thought we had enough food?" she asked as she stuffed her hands in her back pockets and took a good look around. they were walking through the woods which was more strange then not taking a car _something's up but what?_ she thought to herself

"governor told me to go out on a run...saying also to take you along since you haven't been in much help lately" _governor?_ she had bother her eyebrows raised at the sudden comment from the redneck as she glanced at him, only nodding her head and noticed a walker in the distance, figuring why not kill it instead of doing nothing. she was about to stab it when she felt someone push her down on the ground, pinning her down "what the fuck!?" she exclaimed, looking well trying to look over her shoulder and saw merle on top of her "sorry sugar, just doing the job" her eyes widen once everything now fell into place.

governor wanted her dead for last night, doesn't really surprise her truth be told but deep down...hurt her. she squirmed as she tried to get out of his grip cause one, she didn't want to die from him and two, she didn't want to be bitten by the walker. "any last words sugar?" merle chuckled lowly "yeah, fuck yourself Dixon" she hissed as she used all of her strength to roll over, making merle down on his back. she was about to get up when she felt a immense, sharp pain on her left hip. letting out a painful scream. her hand went over to the wound that was gushing with the dark crimson color _perfect_ she was stabbed by merle. Hayley elbowed him hard in the gut and quickly got up from him, ignoring the pain she was feeling and managed to run, the only thing in her mind was 'shit' and that's about it.

she tired to come up with an idea but nothing came to mind, she was cut out of her thoughts when a loud 'bang' was heard and a pain was shot through her right arm. hissing as she grabbed onto her arm, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she listened to merle's laugh "you know I thought it would be easy to take you out...looks like I was wrong there sugar" Hayley slowly straightened herself, pain was going all trough her left side "so this was the governor's real idea huh?" she softly mumbled "damn right it is, actually couldn't have waited it for the green light to be lit to take yer out sugar" merle told her and what happened next wasn't what the redneck planned for

Hayley punched him right in the nose, tackling him down to the ground. letting her punches do most of the talking. oh how good it felt to finally punch this guy! sounds a bit evil yes but it felt good. **really** good after what he did. after what felt like hours of punching the guy's face, which was bloody and badly bruised, along with some hitting on his chest. she got up and started to make a run for it again not before she felt another bullet run through her right arm again. _Christ he doesn't give up does he?_ but that didn't stop her from running. she bit her bottom lip before she hid behind a tree.

catching her breath. already hearing some of the snarling in the distance from the walkers that the shots attracted "come out and play sugar tits! now I promise I wont hurt you yet! we can have some fun right before you get it in your head! I could make you feel pleasure like you never felt before" merle's yelling was heard all over and was bound to bring more walkers _cry me a river asshole_ she thought as she shuddered at what she was hearing, even when wanting her dead he still had to make a comment about getting in her pants. classic merle

she swallowed hard as she pushed herself slowly from the tree and started to run, praying to god that she doesn't get shot again and being the unlucky girl that she is, she was shot. this time her left thigh or what seemed like it. maybe it just grazed over? she didn't have that much time to stop and look at it so she just ran and ran, and ran, and ran. she couldn't handle the running anymore, her lungs were burning but she didn't stop. she knew that if she would stop she would be in merle's hands again or walker food which she didn't want to end up being.

she let out a gasp as she bumped into a walker, acting quickly she stabbed it with her blade on time but her eyes widened at the sight of walkers. all slowly staggering their way over to their stuffed turkey named Hayley. she cursed under her breath and took out the near by walkers that were in her way, moving her way through the forest that seemed never ending. _so this is how i am going to die._ the thought rambled through the young twenty five year old's mind as she continued to walk through the forest after a good run. if this was the 5K run,she would have won first place for all of this.

stabbed on the lower left hip with two bullets on her right arm and one on her left thigh. all thanks to the son of a gun merle. heh, the name was posion to her. guy was more crazier then a box full of monkey's. perfect ain't it? leaning against a tree for a bit, hayley took a quick breather. she needed at least a good ten minute break from all of the running. she checked her wounds made from the guy and hissed whenever she touched them. she lost a lot of blood and was shocked she was still standing up and didn't faint.

granted head felt a bit dizzy but she was a tough one and wasn't going to go down yet. she was about to sit down on the ground before hearing the sounds she both is used to and hates. **THEM** those things...walkers they are called, to her. nightmares. softly groaning she started heading straight on forward since that's her safe bet. _got to keep going_ she told herself, giving herself some pep talk even though it was pointless and she was about to drop to the ground like a puppet.

what felt like hours on hours of walking considering she was stumbling around, looking over her shoulder from time to time to see if anyone of the walkers were close to her. she stopped at the sight of what seemed like a prison off the distance. looked like a good twenty more mile walk but it seemed...secure like _no way was anyone going to be living there_ she thought to herself. but it was a risk worth taking honestly. it was playing hide and go seek with the biters or trying to find some place to stay for a bit. slowly, taking her now journey to the prison

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(ta-dah! finally posted this sucky chapter! I know it may not make sense I suck at writing action packed stuff but hopefully it makes sense to you guys. it may seem off character or just plain is stupidly written. it's what I came up with and am happy with it. I had this chapter written differently but I figured it wouldn't make sense since it would be a good idea to finally start including some parts from the episodes right? which the episodes used were 3 Walk With Me and the beginning of episode 7, When The Dead Come Knocking. so finally we will be having the prison in this story yay! *throws confetti* so yes, next chapter will finally feature daryl and the prison group :) and yes I sort of made Hayley be like michone situation when she gets attacked by merle but its completely different! made it my own way c; now hopefully you guys will like this chapter and please comment below! I like hearing your guys opinions on this :) I will promise you the next chapter will be better in the writing since I know the writing doesn't fully make sense -well to me that is when I read it out loud- but its almost four in the morning, cant sleep so I figured why not post a chapter so I blame me being awake at this hour for the not making sense writing. but yeah, comment below and in two days or so new chapter will be up :).)


	4. Three

(so this will be a really long chapter i would like to say, um so yeah hopefully you guys will like this long chapter! it has the prison group finally :D oh and one more thing, i understand people are not always fans of some fanfic's which is cool but a review wouldn't do a harm? even if it is something like "not the biggest fan of this story, sorry" or some tips on how to improve then those are perfectly fine by me :).)

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Daryl was slowly stepping around the verdant lawn of the prison, a measly few feet away from the brim of the towering fence that protected the group. He firmly held his crossbow in his well built arms, poised and ready to attack if need be it. His wary azure eyes were narrowed to small slits, gaze keen and alert, as always. His tanned features were worn with the cruel way the world had treated him throughout all of his troublesome life, even more so now.

His thoughts unwillingly drifted back to his rough and tumble brother, Merle. A muddled image of his sibling reached the surface of his mind, his expression twisting to one that was firm, solid, and seemingly emotionless. He knew that no one could kill Merle, but Merle.

He had informed his younger brother countless times of that fact. As the hotheaded redneck set foot in the front of the land, he was surprised to hear a faint panting from somewhere in the distance, but the realization didn't show on his stressed complexion. His broad frame tensed, irises sweeping across the area until they fell on a girl limping heavily towards him, dull crimson liquid soaking through her tarnished jeans.

He slowly approached, knowing deep down that he would regret the simple action later. Daryl eyed the seemingly agile girl dubiously, one brow quirking as he watched her pull the knife from its sheathe and swiftly kill the walker, all in one swift movement. A lot of the woman in his small group couldn't handle themselves half as well as that, and he immediately pushed away the fact that he was clearly impressed as soon as the realization transpired.

He continued advancing towards the brim of the fence, his grasp on the crossbow resting in his calloused palm instinctively tightening. The soles of his heavy boots crunched beneath the grass, breaking the thick silence, save the sound of biters growling in somewhere off in the distance.

The hick stared down at her through the wire that tied the barrier together, easily forcing himself to remain silent. He didn't see the point in speaking, he was well aware that whatever he would mutter would wind up being offensive in one way or another. He mentally winced as a glimpse of her bloodied jeans flashed across his vision, the injury seemed much more fatal up close. Finally deciding to break the silence, she bites her bottom lip "well you have three choices. You can either take me in, leave me out her like some shiskabob or just shoot those lovely arrows in between my eyes" the mysterious girl finally piped up.

Daryl let out a gruff sigh before allowing the arm holding his crossbow to swing back to his side, he glanced over her shoulder, watching as the duet of biters slowly approached her, nearly tripping over themselves multiple times in the process. "The better option would be me puttin' an arrow through your skull," he bantered irritably, aggravated that he was the one who wound up having to deal with this situation.

He allowed the thought of sharply turning on his heel and walking away from the scenario to slip through his mind, but he hurriedly pushed the option away. She seemed like she could handle herself well enough, considering how quickly she had slaughtered those biters a measly few seconds ago, but the reality of the dead roaming the globe didn't quite give him an excuse to loose the small shred of humanity that remained somewhere deep within him.

"yeah well if you want it so badly, make me a target practice" she joked, running her fingers through her hair. Daryl's azure irises narrowed to small, suspicious slits, feeling anger well from somewhere in the depths of his stomach. He raked a hand through his thin, dusty colored hair, lips compressing to a slender line.

He figured that he should calm his persistent rage before shit hit the fan, the petite girl poised on the other side of the sturdy fence seemed strong enough to knock him straight onto his ass. "Keep givin' me that attitude, and I might consider it," he growled, briefly looking over his shoulder for the last time at the prison looming behind him, using that moment to make a final decision

"well?" the girl asked softly once she was done killing the two walkers with ease even though it was clear that she was in pain. He threw a brief glance at the prison, considering whether or not he should go and get Rick, the unofficial group leader, and tell him about the trouble that he had run into. He immediately shook the forethought away, the redneck could handle himself, he didn't need some prick always making decisions for him.

While he was a child, Merle taught him how to be strong, independent, his brother had constantly drilled the reality that he was always alone if he wasn't with his big brother into his thick head. "You get bit?" He questioned, his low voice outlined in a faint southern accent. "if I was would I have made it here?" She asked, walking back over to the fence "just some minor cuts and stuff" she shrugged as if no big deal while really it was.

He heaved open the entrance, frantically motioning for her to step inside. "C'mon, ain't got all day," he grunted, stepping out of her way. The redneck didn't comment on her reassurance about her injuries being mere cuts and scrapes, he would let Hershel be the judge of that. Immediately after she stepped inside, he pointed his crossbow at her, arrow at the ready to shoot if she made a move to harm anyone. "Let's go," he nodded, his sturdy figure tense and rigid, prepared to dodge if she attempted to attack him.

"temper now" she said, smirking as she walked inside, looking back over to make sure no one was following her, raising an eyebrow slightly and looking at the redneck and then at the cross bow pointed at her "ok but it would be nice if you could at least point that to my chest" she said, softly chuckling as she started to walk, shoving her hands into her jean pockets.

Daryl lowly grunted at her aggravated offer, forcing back his relief at the sudden wind that had begun to whirl around the verdant yard, cooling his heated skin. "You say somethin'?" He grumbled, following a measly foot behind the seemingly nonchalant girl. "Nothing, nothing" she said softly, looking down at the ground as she kicked a rock under her feet. Once he made sure that she was looking somewhere, anywhere else but him, he slowly lowered his crossbow to her chest, careful to keep his actions unnoticed.

The last thing that he wanted was for her to wind up appreciating him for the mere action, he wasn't here to make friends. He led her up to the heavy threshold of the prison, lazily kicking the door open with the tip of his tarnished boot. Daryl's keen eyes hurriedly scanned the halls before motioning for her to come inside, skeptically watching her as she idly stepped in front of him.

"Who did that to you?" He questioned under his breath, figuring that he should get some of the obvious information that Rick needed beforehand. His features twisted into his trademark scowl as he remembered what had happened to Glenn and Maggie, dragged off to some place called Woodbury, being held captive there like cornered rats. The thought bothered him, but he hurriedly brushed his irritation away, knowing it was best if he kept his temper at bay.

he saw the girl look back at him, hearing a scoff escape her lips "crazy son of a b..|tch was trying to kill me" she told him, shaking her head "if any more details, someone told him to do so but he missed my head and hit me in the arm and leg and my hip" she explained to him. Daryl felt annoyance prick beneath his skin as she leisurely glanced around the rustic walls, gently prodding her back with the front of his crossbow. "Keep movin'," he ordered sourly, wanting nothing more than to get to the group and decide what to do with this mess that he had gotten himself caught up into.

The redneck knew, somewhere deep down in that battered and broken conscience of his, that he should of just left her there instead of causing all of these complications that were soon to come. "Crazy son of a b..|tch ?" He chuckled dryly, the bitter sound void of any and all humor. "That ain't too specific, there's a hell of a lot a people goin' haywire nowadays," he explained, leading her through a small clearing.

The prison was murky and humid, which didn't help with his already overheated body temperature. He let his guard down for a moment to rake a large hand through his sweat caked hair, forcing it away from his glistening forehead. He decided to keep quiet, Daryl had never been one for small talk, or measly conversation in general. And even if he had obviously earned his place here, that didn't change the fact that his temper was constantly boiling within the bowels of his stomach."well if you do count one without a hand then fine by me" she said softly

Daryl abruptly halted in his loud footsteps for a few heartbeats, feeling nausea curdle in the pit of his stomach at her words.

"What did you say?" he inquired lowly, his tone suspicious, and even the slightest bit unsure. He cared for his brother, hell, maybe even loved the bastard. Only, he wasn't sure if he was both mentally and physically prepared to face the pure brutality that Merle carried with him.

The name calling, reckless actions, harsh lessons, all of those meek actions didn't help to quench his flaming anger, to say the least. "That he's only got one hand?" He added, slowly rounding the next corner that led to their sturdy cell block and all he got was a nod of the girl's head as her answer. Even after the two of them strode through the heavy metal bars that guarded them all, he kept his crossbow carefully trained on the girl, cautious to keep his arms from quivering under the weight of his heavy weapon.

Eight eyes were locked firmly on the duet, and more importantly, on him. Daryl had been standing by Rick since practically the beginning, and was now 'a part of the family', so to speak. Though, he never found himself growing overly fond of all the attention that the name branded him with. "Found her outside, got a pretty bad bullet wound," he briefly explained, wanting nothing more than to flee back to the safety of his perch, out of the unfaltering spotlight

rick nods his head slowly, he actually wasn't needing anyone else in the group, more problems then ever "Hershel will look at her, Daryl can we talk?" He asked, giving him the look to_ either do it or else_. Daryl eventually decided it best to lower his crossbow, letting out a quiet breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding in the first place.

The redneck watched in silence as she was hauled off by Hershel before slowly turning to Rick, his expression remaining a stern mask of tense, restless aggravation. He rolled his rigid shoulders, attempting to avoid Rick's glare boring into him. "You gonna say somethin'?" He asked, breaking the dense silence, save the sound of Carol restlessly tapping her fingers against the cold metal walls. He unwillingly found himself throwing brief glances at his perch, wanting nothing more than to retreat there, to the one place where it seemed as if the weight of the world **wasn't** on his shoulders.

He soundlessly slipped his lethal weapon onto his arm, his gaze nervously flicking over the group. He mentally scolded himself for doing something so mindless, by bringing this girl here, he had automatically put the lot of them at risk. They didn't know who she is, who she was, and much less what she was capable of.

"want to tell me why the hell you brought her in?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at him. waiting on his answer, as well as the whole group. they honestly don't need anything else more to cause drama, ever since the whole thing with Maggie and glenn, at the governor that wants to go into some crazy ass war. the last thing that they need is someone new to be in the group, and rick to get thrown into crazyville more

"how do you know she's not going to murder us all at night?" Daryl's grip tightened on the strap of his crossbow, averting his ignited blue irises to the chipped concrete beneath the heavy soles of his shoes. "And what was I supposed to do, huh?" He muttered, his tone holding a slight edge of anger. He sucked in a small breath through his nostrils, using the inhaled air to calm his unsettled nerves. "If I woulda left her there, she sure as hell would of wound up dead," he explained bitterly, shifting so that he was standing in a more comfortable position. "I've killed enough damned people,"

he brought his thumb to his lips, biting at an irritable hangnail there. He brushed off the stares and took a firm step backwards, throwing a short glance at Hershel as he emerged from the dim room. He attempted to ignore the sound of the suspicious girl quietly striding back into the area, her eyes firmly set on him as he spoke.

"I don't know anythin' about who she is, whether or not she's a threat, nothin'. Only one way to find out," he hinted, subtly tilting the crown of his head towards her. And with that he hurriedly shuffled off towards the side, finding himself somehow lodged in between Carol and Beth.

Rick looked over at the girl and sighed softly "how did you get here?" He asked, but got no response from her, only and soft chuckle, that only making rick's blood pressure go up. "Where else could I have come from? From the sky?" the dark haired shaking her head slightly. "Just answer the question" rick said sternly. Trying his best not to snap or something at the girl. "A town, woodbury" she said, making rick and possibly the whole group eyes widen

"woodbury" rick repeated while mystery girl nods her head "well no neverland that's for sure" she muttered, moving some of her hair out of her face. Daryl intently stared at the girl, his expression taking on its trademark scowl as she spoke. "You in cahoots with that damned governor?" He muttered, eyeing her suspiciously. After he had made the bold move of speaking up, the redneck immediately wanted to retreat back to the safety that silence brought with it, she scoffed at daryl's comment "not at all" she mumbles.

The air was thick like fog, looks like this group already has its encounter with the governor. "What happened to you?" She glanced at the cop and softly chuckled, merle was right about him. He wants to know everything even though the world is now . "what is this? Twenty questions?" She asked

"ok want to know what happened cop? Fine. I was at the town and was told to help out this but case and he tried to kill me because he was told to. And that nut case was merle fucking dixon, brother of your daryl" she said, just making the air more thick from tension "can I go now or are you going to feed me to the pack of walkers like im cat food?"His heated breath caught in his throat as he heard that cursed name escape her lips,

_Merle_

He took a step back, as if he was winded by her words. He had already been suspicious that his brother was responsible for her fatal injuries, considering the girl's comment that she had slurred while the two of them weaved through the rustic halls on the way here. Rick looked back at Daryl, feeling a tad sorry for him. Here he was, just finding out about his brother being alive now after a year ago he was left on top of a roof where t-dog handcuffed him and sawed his hand off.

Though he knows that this might put daryl into some pity for his brother being alive now, and more importantly that its probably with the governor. He raked a hand through his thin, dusty colored hair, gaze averting to the stains on his loose, mud covered jeans. Daryl's troubled eyes hurriedly scanned the group, some faces held pity within their expressions, others judgmental, some even indifferent.

He pursed his lips at their reactions, he didn't need their sadness. He knew that no one could kill Merle, but Merle. He let out an aggravated hiss, his palms clenching into tight fists. "What?!" He hollered, letting out a light curse as he tromped up the metal stairs, fleeing into a room where no one could bother him. Daryl restlessly paced back and forth, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Merle. His brother, he was alive. Hell, somewhere deep down within his battered and broken mind, he knew that, his sibling was practically invisible. No one had the ability to kill him, not even his father, no matter how forceful his beatings had been.

He felt enragement fester in his knotted stomach, causing his breath to come out short and choppy. The redneck suddenly let out a low growl, uneasily clenching and unclenching his fists before roughly slamming his knuckles into the wall. The action sent a throbbing agony all the way up to the tip of his tanned elbow, but he shook it off. He was used to the pain.

Daryl raked his large fingers through his damp hair, eventually mustering up enough peace to make his way back down the rusted grey stairs, not bothering to make eye contact with any of the group as he swept past. He finally slumped against a sturdy wall that was somewhat secluded from everyone, groggily staring at the girl, who was currently staring daggers at rick, seated atop the rickety table.

A realization dawned over him in that moment, her name was still unknown to him, and that measly fact annoyingly prodded at him for a reason that he couldn't place. "look, i understand that this is a bit...bad. but we can work things out?" She lightly chuckled to lighten things up but she still got that blank look from rick.

"What do you know?" He asked "know about what? Your group. Basics, you're rick the leader, have I believe a wife and son. Some guy name glenn, shane, dale and oh, t-dog, the guy that handcuffed him. He did a good thing there and of course, daryl. Merle never shut up about him" she shrugged a shoulder, looking at rick who was just emotionless.

Of course when she mentioned lori, it hit him. It was probably at least a week since she passed away.

"Tell me about Woodbury" rick looked at her, waiting for her to talk. "What do you want to know? Merle tried killing me, a girl that used to be in your group is playing around with the governor, andrea I believe" two of your people are there...the glenn guy and his girlfriend" she said, wondering what will happen if they hear that, rick didn't look back at her but at Daryl.

Since The shane thing happened, he made daryl his wingman with everything.

Daryl's jaw was firmly set, blue irises filled with words left unsaid. He threw a brief glance at the mysterious girl seated on the table, his expression shifting to one of slight amusement as she mentioned something about Andrea and the Governor screwing around. His tongue hurriedly slipped from his mouth to wet his cracked lips, his harsh features softening for a moment as he remembered her slight mention of Merle.

"They've got Glenn and Maggie?" He muttered gruffly, attempting to hold back the shock that threatened to burst from his throat in strangled coughs. He almost suggested that they load up and go get them, though, he knew that he was letting his urge to see his brother get in the way of his better judgment.

The girl nodded her head slowly at his comment "mhm, don't ask me why they got em, all I know is merle found them and took him. Why, I don't know, knowing him he is doing something to keep his ass alive for the governor "she faked smiled before sighing and looking to the cop

"listen Clifford the big red dog, to cut it simple, if you want the two of them to live, you have to go and get them" rick tried to not roll his eyes at her statement but just looked at her "could you lead us there?" He asked her "well I think so I mean, how the hell do you think I got here? On a dragon from a castle?" She shook her head.

Daryl listened intently to the conversation, idly chewing on an irritable hangnail, azure eyes keen and alert. His thin hair was slicked to his tanned forehead by sweat, dirt caked onto his worn complexion. He hurriedly dipped his head towards the ground as she stretched, ignoring the obvious feminine curves hiding beneath the fabric of her shirt. He could practically hear Merle urging him on, saying,

_"Go on and get 'er, c'mon now, don't be a pansy ass, Darylena."_

The hick cringed at the thought of his brother back in Woodbury, there was this odd feeling curdling in his nausea ridden stomach, telling him that something wasn't right. He had found that he got this strange sickening in his chest whenever his sibling was doing something that he wasn't supposed to, getting caught up in some sort of troubling problem.

Daryl couldn't trust this girl, he didn't know nearly anything about her. The thought of her staying with the group exactly give the redneck warm and fuzzies, but he wasn't about to let that fact show on his face. He clenched his fist behind his back, stretching the sore skin on his knuckles. His broad frame tensed at the sudden throbs pulsing through his hand, hurriedly releasing his iron grip.

"What are we supposed to call you, anyway? Can't go 'round callin' you girl..." He started, immediately wanting to shrink away from the conversation at the befuddled glares he got from the rushed statement. "hayley, nothing else" she softly replied. He didn't acknowledge her as Hayley introduced herself, he merely threw brief glances at her every so often, pondering over their options.

It seemed the only thing that they could do was force themselves to trust her, confide in this girl that they had met a measly thirty minutes ago. "We should go get 'em, can't leave 'em there," he muttered, cringing once he realized that he had stated the obvious. The atmosphere in the room suddenly got tense and sticky, the dense air becoming borderline suffocating. He nonchalantly adjusted the strap of his crossbow, hooking his thumb into the belt loop of his loose, sun bleached jeans.

"well then, if officer friendly doesn't want to sit on his ass all day until they serve him some cup of tea, then we can go now" she said, raising an eyebrow over at rick and smirked slightly. rick shook his head, _the faster they get glenn and Maggie, the faster she can leave_ rick thought "we'll leave in ten" he said, nodding his head and looking over at daryl as he walked over to him

"think its a good idea?" he softly asked, think about it though. if the girl is from woodbury, she can probably ditch rick and the others, leaving them alone and to their death really. they don't know anything about her so how can they be so sure about it. Daryl let out a soft grunt at Rick's orders, pushing himself off of the cracked and aged wall, preparing to step away from the situation. "Think it's our only choice," he muttered, averting his pained gaze towards the concrete that blanketed the ground.

He threw the former police officer a short, almost reassuring glance before stalking off into the prison, gaze flicking around the dimly lit hallways as he walked. He hurriedly slipped a bolt into his crossbow as he heard the thick, wet gurgling of a nearby walker. The redneck jogged towards the noise, pulling the trigger to let the arrow loose as soon as the creature and its mangled flesh came into view. He yanked the arrow from its skull, sending debris left over from the attack splattering onto the aged floor.

The redneck suddenly wondered why he was wandering off through the dank corridors in the first place, only, deep down, he knew that for some strange reason he couldn't quite place, he was looking for Hayley. Perhaps it was her harsh humor that slightly reminded him of Merle, or maybe Daryl needed some sort of twisted reassurance that he could trust this girl

He shoved his side into one of the faded crimson doors, heaving the entrance open with a low huff. He let out a deep breath at the unfaltering heat and humidity that suddenly beat down on him, adding to the warmth that was already seeping through his skin. Daryl soundlessly approached the girl, emotionlessly watching the way that her hair was swept over her small shoulders by the wind, tumbling down her back in tousled, dark waves.

looking at daryl and kicking the ground with her boots. "are you out on duty to kill me or you have a heart and sparing me to live?" she asked "Little bit of both," he mumbled, leisurely stepping the rest of the way over to Hayley. The two of them stood there in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes, his gaze aimlessly sweeping over the verdant lawn of the prison.

"How'd you find Woodbury?" He asked, attempting to get her to reveal bits and pieces of her past. He could practically feel the secrets rolling from her clouded demeanor, and that realization peaked his practically inaccessible interest. Hayley shook her head, chuckling lightly before staying quiet for a bit more, as if she was deciding how to answer his question right

"well it's a really long story, but I was there from the start you can say. was with a small group and was there when they took care of it and all. that's about it really, nothing fancy like merle being on the roof and running around Atlanta like it's a carnival" she chuckled. Daryl listened to her explanation, one end of his thin lips twitching in what seemed like a faint hint of a smile. "Sounds like Merle," he muttered, sliding his hand into the large pocket of his pants.

He silently debated whether or not he should open up to her, fess up the whole truth. He idly chewed the inside of his mouth for a few long moments, staring off at the distance with a somewhat distant, clouded expression etching its way onto his features. He slowly stepped a bit closer to her, careful to keep himself poised at least a foot away. Daryl roughly drove the tip of his tarnished boot into the ground, knocking loose a few rocks from the stale dirt. He took in a short breath, tasting the undeniable freshness that rain brought with it.

He spent most of his childhood toppling through the woods, hunting deer and any other animal he caught sight of to get his mind off of the turmoil waiting for him back home. He knew when a storm was coming, even when the sky held a seemingly unbreakable sapphire hue.

"It's gonna rain," he commented, keeping his eyes locked on the fence that barricaded their hideout. "let it rain then, it's not like we're sugar cubes and going to dissolve" she commented, letting the silence take over once more and it wasn't until it felt like hours for once again, the new girl to break the silence "what about you, how did you stumble upon this group? I mean merle told me that you lived out in the woods but never told me how you got there" she asked, looking up at daryl.

"When shit hit the fan, I was up in the mountains huntin' with Jess, our camp got overrun, we were the only ones left," he started, running a hand through his dusty hair. The redneck blinked as he realized how long it had gotten over the years, it was threatening to reach his shoulders by now. "Found Merle up on a roof, bastard was shootin' at everyone he saw, sayin' they were the Military," he scoffed, throwing a brief glance Hayley's way. "We were in the forest for awhile later on, came across the group... We didn't want no part in it, planned on robbin' 'em dry," he explained, allowing the still vivid memory to surface in his mind.

"Rick handcuffed Merle to a roof, and things went haywire from there, haven't seen him since," he finished, taking a few steps forward so that he was now standing with his back turned to the fair skinned girl, fingers wrapped delicately around the strap of his weapon, hearing a chuckle from the girl near him brother "close enough how we found him" she stretched before rubbing the back of her neck.

"he's alive and you should be glad about that" she said softly as she chewed on the inside of her cheek "the roof thing, the way merle explained it, was a bit funny. said how he was going to revenge on the guy that cuffed him and how, what was the name? t-dog? dropped the key and he will cuff him onto a roof and make sure he burns up on the roof" she said, nodding her head before sighing "nut case but not dumb" she softly mumbled before looking out on the field.

Daryl indifferently watched her, ignoring the persistent glare of the sun flashing over his vision. "Too much drugs and alcohol will do that to ya," he muttered, referring to the words of his nonsensical brother. He wanted to mutter that he was relieved his sibling was alive and well, but he never doubted Merle's ability to survive in the first place, so he kept his lips sealed. He tugged his crossbow further up his leather clad shoulder, leaving his palm firmly wrapped around the sturdy strap even after he had moved.

Hayley nods her head "well don't know how much he took but he's one bastard to make it out alive through it" she scoffed, shaking her head as she walked around the fence a bit. Daryl dipped his head towards the ground, anxiously drumming his fingers against the strap of his crossbow. "Merle's more than a tough bastard," he commented, allowing a low scoff to escape his throat.

Hayley nods her head "you have no idea" she muttered to herself before looking over and seeing the biters. geez they dont's stop?

"you would never have thought that you would do anything to have a chance to hear a highway packed with cars and yelling when stuck in traffic" she softly laughed, a faint smile on her face. "here we used to complain about the noise and now we complain about the silence, a bit funny if you think about it" she glanced back over at daryl before looking back forward

The redneck hurriedly averted his gaze towards the scuffed ground as she spoke, memories of his father's reddened face and spine chilling insults breaking through the depths of his mind. "Never cared much for noise," he muttered, another vivid image of his drunken parent sweeping across his thoughts, screaming horrid things to his son that he wouldn't remember the next morning. Daryl felt a sudden pang prick at his stomach, immediately recognizing the annoyance as abandonment, about Merle, no doubt.

He recalled that hollowness that had constantly clawed through his chest back in his teenage years, waking every day with the realization that his protector wasn't there for him anymore.

"really? well each one to their own" she softly said, kicking a rock under her foot as she sighed. looking down on the ground and then back at the redneck, "well, ever regret killing someone...that turned?" she asked all of the sudden "I don't know, parents, girlfriend, wife? child?" she rambled.

He threw a brief glance Hayley's way at her personal question, anonymous emotions suddenly flashing across his clouded irises. The hick remained silent for more than a few lingering heartbeats, staring at the small mass of walkers staggering against the fence, steadily making their way towards them. He leisurely stepped forward, yanking a jagged tipped bolt from its place and hammering it through the biters' skull, watching as the pallid creature toppled onto the dirt with bitter satisfaction.

Daryl twisted his body so that he could face Hayley, impatiently waiting for her to catch up to him. He sucked in a shallow breath through his nostrils, careful to keep the action subtle enough to where she wouldn't notice.

"My old man," he voiced once she approached, the words slipping past his lips as a measly grumble. "When this all started...we were scouting a creek, huge ass herd of walkers came through, he... Uh, he didn't make it," he explained, his gaze focused solely on the greenery wedged beneath the grooved soles of his hiking boots.

"Tried shooting him, couldn't make myself do it, Merle'd be callin' me a pansy ass for it, but it's done," he briefly paused, slipping his thumb into a belt loop on his loose fitted jeans. "My uncle Jess killed 'em, put a bullet in his brain," He wondered why the suspicious girl was asking these sudden curious inquiries, whether she meant to or not, the memories she caused to surface hit home, to say the least.

"What about you?" He asked under his breath, the statement sounding more reluctant than eager. Daryl stared at the walker's decapitated head for a few lingering heartbeats, his brows furrowed together in pure disgust. He couldn't help the relief that shuddered through him as she impaled it with her foot, dubiously staring at her afterward. glancing down at the ground for a brief moment before looking up at daryl,

Hayley shrugged a shoulder "well, on the day that everything went haywire, I broke up with my ex. it didn't last for I don't know, two hours and the first biter I killed was my ex" she said, nodding her head before lightly chuckling. "looks like I didn't think that I wished I could have hit him with pan would come true" she shook her head, moving stray hair out of her face and looking at him

"then I survived out on my own before meeting up with my sister, she was just eight. mom died before this happened so one day, I turned around for a second and next thing I heard was her screaming and then the rest you can figure out on your own"

"Sorry... About that, musta been hard," he murmured, quietly clearing his throat. He couldn't help but notice her small frame steadily growing tense as she told her story, hugging her malnourished arms to her chest. Hayley shook her head "don't be, trust me about that" she said softly, looking out over at the trees and woods

The redneck's eyes hurriedly skimmed over the tattoos she had printed there, an odd feeling of satisfaction rolling through his stomach. He immediately shoved the unwanted emotions away, locking them away with all the rest that he kept stored somewhere deep within his conscious. Daryl instead replaced his unexpected feelings with the fond warmth of anger, it was always easier that way.

"If I lost Merle..." He scoffed, the possibility sounding unbelievable even as he spoke. He knew that his brother was nearly invincible, if he was going to die, it would have happened already. "Hell, I don't know what I'd do."

"we never know what to do when we lose someone, we tell ourselves that nothing bad will happen but life is twisted...especially now that...we don't know what can happen anytime or any day." she said, glancing over at him and then back at prison, shaking her head slightly.

Daryl stared pensively at Hayley for a few brief heartbeats before curtly turning his attention elsewhere, staring through the metallic web of fence towering in front of him. He tilted his head in a subtle agreement to her words, his grip absentmindedly tightening on his crossbow. Was Merle truly alright? "I'm kinda relieved that the world went to shit," he muttered, uncomfortably clearing the bile that had risen in his throat.

The memories of his cruel father began to surface his mind, sending an unnoticeable fit of shudders down his spine. "Life was even worse back then," he mumbled, the gruff words hardly audible. "I have a feeling" she softly mumbled before shrugging a shoulder, she went over to the entrance of the fence and looked over at daryl "either you get your cop to come, or im going now" she told him, leaning against it as she put her hands behind her head "the more time we waste the more things the governor can do to them, simple as that" she softly said.

His parted lips twitched in a faint smile at her urgent words, staring towards the looming figure of the prison with feigned interest. In all honesty, Daryl couldn't force away the nervous pricks that were flipping his already curdled stomach at the reminder that he may or may not run into his brother. He was so overwhelmed by the sudden reality that he hardly noticed Rick approaching them, a stern, almost on edge expression adorning his stubbled features. The redneck watched dubiously as Hayley heaved the gate open, directing a nonchalant shrug Rick's direction to signal that they should haul ass out of here.

* * *

(and finally done! x we finally have the prison group! *throws confetti and happy dances* I know this isn't the best, probably would have been better in under Hayley's point of view in this chapter but I thought it would be a bit more interesting to see things under Daryl's eyes ya know? now I know some things may be off character but I suck at being or well trying to write under guy's point of view so I do apologize if rick doesn't sound like rick in this or if daryl doesn't sound like daryl, but yeah next chapter is when we get to the woodbury! I am speeding things up very quickly I know but that's because I have some interesting plans coming up for this fanfic and want to write it all out :) now this episode is based off the episode 7 When The Dead Comes Knocking -think I spelled it right, might have to double check- but yeah, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! oh and want to clear things up, i know this is skipped and we don't see merle taking glenn and maggie, i know but it will be shown in a different chapter)


	5. Four

dear lord what has Hayley gotten into? here she thought everything was going to be perfect fine and she would walk into the prison she found without trouble. rest there for a bit before patching herself up with some near by supplies she could find cause come on, the prison didn't look no more then a year old since the whole raid of walkers couldn't look that old right? plus they look 'fresh' turned if you know what I mean.

well instead of that Hayley ran into some redneck asshole who turns out to be related then none other merle Dixon, his name is daryl. god he could make her want to rip her hair at times well not always like merle but sometimes she would want to poke him in the eyes just to get him to stop acting like some macho guy and talk!

maybe it's a Dixon thing that the men don't talk, give glares and if they do talk then it's not a pleasant comment. well plus side is he is very different from what merle had explained about his little brother. he didn't appear like he was bitter nor was he grieving about his brother though he did seem shocked when he found out merle is alive and well.

but he seemed...like he was his own person.

as if he has an idea of who he is and looks like he gets along pretty well with the group he's in. she did wonder why didn't daryl leave her out there. out with the walkers and let her either collapse with blood loss or get bitten, that thought was something she didn't understand not one bit and as much as she wanted to ask the redneck himself, she knows she wont get nothing out of him. zip and zilch my friends.

After a few minutes of walking, the sheriff cop guy named rick spoke up "You sure you know where it is?" He asked _no I am just leading you to a death trap_ she thought bitterly, seriously how many questions does this guy ask? it was annoying her already and yet they didn't reach the town yet but then again, on one side she sort of can't blame the nonstop questioning.

he seems to be the group leader so of course he is going to worry about the two people the governor is keeping them and god knows what they had done to him? Glancing over her shoulder, Hayley nods her head slightly "yes any more talking? Or can we walk in peace without letting others know we're coming?" She asked before looking straight ahead, eyeing a biter as she sighed.

And here she thought a biter free walk, fat chance like always.

Going around, she went and sneaked up behind the biter, driving her dagger into the biter's skull, not moving until after the animated corpse toppled to the ground. there that should show the two men that she knows how to defend herself or was that the real reason for killing the walker? honestly she could have just let it be cause they could have walked by it and let it stalker off somewhere else.

"How far away is this place?" hearing Daryl's gruff words breaking the shallow silence that she somehow enjoyed truth be told, she didn't like talking when going on runs. she had her eyes closed as they were walking to the town woodbury her home, well more like old home that is. letting the hot, Atlanta sun hit her pale face.

it wasn't that she wasn't hardly eating anything, just how she was. she can hardly get a perfect tan. opening her eyes, She glanced back at the redneck before shrugging a shoulder "well lets see, merle took me out around probably eleven, saw him take your people thirty minutes after and came here probably an hour or so. So to answer your question, walking...pretty far. by car, not so far" she said, rolling her sleeves up as much as possible, she was in need of new clothes but she'll live.

Its not like a walker would care about what clothes she's wearing when they will eat her or they are color blind. Are they? I mean they are dead but are human so maybe they are? She never thought about it until now but some decent hygiene is important but then again, when has hygiene become important when everything went downhill in the world?

She continued to walk to the town, letting the silence and the chirping of birds make noise instead of anymore talking. She honestly wished she could have jacked a car from the town but no, she didn't cause she wasn't prepared for a merle killing. plus merle didn't take a car when merle said they're going out on a 'run' so if they did, merle would have taken the car himself to the ride home but another thought came to mind. what did that son of a gun tell the town with what had happened to her? did he make up some like that walkers ate her alive which made her snort softly to herself

_of course he would. its MERLE we're talking about here_ he will do anything to keep his sorry ass alive with the governor. she looked over at daryl who stilled as a slight rustling could be heard behind him, flinging himself around on his heel and imbedding a bolt in the walker's skull before it had the measly chance to topple through the brush.

He jogged forward and yanked the pointed arrow from its leathery skin, grimacing as brain matter splattered onto the pavement. causing the dark haired girl to raise an eyebrow slightly at the scene. actually impressed by the redneck "coming along or are you going to stick around with your friend?" she asked and waited on daryl and in response, all she got was a grunt _men_ she thought.

* * *

They walked for what felt like hours, the relentless Georgia sun beating down on their shoulders, adding unwanted weight to their strides but that long walking finally came to an end as The faint outline of Woodbury came into view to the side of the trees, and soon enough, they were crouched a pretty safe distance away from the two towering, rusted gates that closed off the protected town.

Hayley glanced up at the roofs and the wall, of course the wall is protected well. considering it was made out of only heavy tires, stacked in such a way to where they wouldn't fall. Gunman on top while in the roofs nothing. She tried to look for Martinez since he's the kisser up to the governor very well. Biting her bottom lip, she softly sighed and wanted to go out but rick stopped her

"just trust me" she whispered, waiting for the cop to let go of her wrist before walking up to the wall, knowing perfectly well that her plan on getting inside could backfire at any second. yes it would make the two men suspicious on why she's doing this but there's no way they could climb that wall. it was nearly impossible to do so! she tried it herself once to test out how sturdy it was and boy was it sturdy.

she held her hands up to let the gunmen know she's perfectly alive despite the fact her jeans are stained with the crimson color and walked up to the gates "aren't you guys needed?" The men looked at her, not answering her at all _great, this is going exactly to plan _she thought as she sighed

"don't make me say it again, you're needed. Governor said to leave the post. Martinez and the others will take watch" she continued. watching the men and giving them a look to get a move on it and just her luck. it worked _thank sweet mama lord Jesus _she thought, Taking a deep breath as she opened the gate and peaked her head in to see if anyone was there, which amazed her that it was deserted. Looking back at rick and daryl, she waved her hand frantically for them to come with her inside which they sprinted inside and followed behind them.

but something felt wrong...just uneven to the girl but what that was? she didn't know. she was looking around the town and sighing. It all didn't feel right that it was quiet. Far to quiet for the girl. usually at that time people were still walking about but nothing. not one living soul was out here, it could have been mistaken as a ghost town if it wasn't for the lighting that was on.

the small group slipped inside a building through the back, staying in the shadows as much as they could and so far so good. nothing bad had happened yet. "You sure you know where they are?" Rick asked, raising an eyebrow "yes, they're close by, near the governor's torture chair room so its not that far. But please don't go all call of duty on the town-"

she was cut off when a door was swung open along with a clang sound. Turning around and seeing a guy walk in but before he can say anything, rick hit the guy in the back of his head, knocking him out and pulled him all the way in the back of room "what part did you not get of not going all call of duty on them!?" She hissed "that" the cop replied, earning a eye roll from the girl. _Unbelievable_ she thought, shaking her head. Why cant they go without killing each other?

Looks like merle has gotten a point in that the ex cop shows no mercy in a few things when it comes to the people he cares I.e. his group members.

* * *

(and im stopping things here : now I know this chapter isn't true to the episode which of course is episode 8 Made To Suffer also known as the mid season finale :) but I wanted this chapter to be a bit of its own with of course being in the episode so I don't want to see comments saying 'that's not how they got into the town' or something cause I know it isn't of course and I made it that reason for them enter a different way. its a fan fiction so its going to be different in some ways but not a lot of ways cause I am still sticking true to the series as much as I can but having my own twists in them ya know? so next chapter is when shiz is about to go down ;) so get ready for chapter five! also please comment with your thoughts on this chapter loves!)


	6. Five

(before i start this chapter up, i want to give a shot out to **Skies192** and **speedy964 **for following and liking this story :)) thanks guys!)

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Having no choice, hayley went ahead and walked out through the back once everything was calm from the outside considering hayley and rick's little bickering did cause some people from the outside to check things out and luckily, no one came in. they continued using the back of the town. Just in case something else might happen like merle popping up randomly or worse...the governor.

the building, where the small group was heading at, was down at an alley, away from the town and houses. honestly the most perfect place to keep things hidden if wanted plus, it was horrible looking hence why the governor probably kept things hidden for that reason as well.

Unlocking the door with her blade, she waited for the two to get inside, _hurry up!_ She thought as she crossed her arms across her chest. Seeing the look she got from rick, she knew she had to lead them still so she did considering she didn't have much of a choice now. but it didnt take long to hear merle's thick accent when they got close.

She got them to their people, her job has been done. Now how do they plan on getting them out, she will just have to wait and see.

"You gotta plan?" daryl voiced lowly, crossbow held firmly in his palm, poised and ready for attack if need be it. He flinched as he heard the sound of knuckles meeting flesh, followed by a pained grunt. Hayley. looked over at daryl and softly sighed _yeah easy for you to say_ she thought. how the heck is she supposed to know about coming up with plans? she isn't a genius or something.

shrugging a shoulder, the brunette picked up a rock from the ground and held it in her hands for a while and looking over at the room, peaking her head inside and scrunching her nose up when she saw glenn. _poor guy_ she thought as she was Listening onto merle's conversation, she never got the way merle talked. Made no sense at times to her.

"We need to get in and get out of here fast, somethin' don't feel right." daryl said, once an idea popped into her head, hayley bit her bottom lip _better then nothing_ she thought to herself.

"just throw a smoke grenade" she whispered and looked back at the cop and redneck and noticed perfectly that the two men weren't too found of that idea, considering daryl's face hardened at that mention, it was that or nothing else which in her opinion is better then anything.

Pulling out her pistol, she shot at the light bulb and holding her breath in as she heard a boisterous curse slip from someone's mouth, words raspy and uneven, uncontrolled. none other then merle. letting out her breath that she was holding in and leaned back out and shot one of the guys in the shoulder. she knew she will have a scolding from rick but that's all she could come up with, and luckily they went along since rick threw one of the grenades which made her wonder how they got them

but either way, she went and grabbed glenn and Maggie's arm "i'll explain later" she told them as they all left, well Hayley not at first, she wanted to show merle that she's still alive and well after what he did to her. smirking, she turned over with her hand slightly waving at the one hand man "missed me?" the look on merle's face was priceless, such a picture perfect memory but she didn't have time to do anything and ran out before she was shot or worse.

In just a matter of seconds all hell broke loose after that. The shooting wouldn't stop, and there was smoke everywhere. People were yelling at each other and shouting orders, but Rick's group just kept moving. They made their way through a window they had found considering if they went out the front door they would be screwed more then needed. zigzagging their way as far away from the shooting as possible.

Now that they were away from the smoke they could actually take a good look at Glenn and Maggie, considering that the korean looked horrible...**really** horrible. It looked like he had been beat up, and he was not wearing a shirt because he had given it to Maggie. There was no blood on her luckily but the thought of what the governor did to her was haunting hayley's mind and the thoughts she had weren't so good.

but she felt her stomach churn at the sight of glenn. Merle tortured him good and I do mean **good**, she's shocked that he is still alive. She doesn't want to go through his pain at all. she glanced over at maggie and gently pinched her arm "you ok?" she softly asked as maggie nodded her head "y-yeah i'm fine just take a look at him" she said, of course they needed to look at glenn. he looked horrible!

Rick hushed them angrily, considering that they were still out in the open "Inside! Quick!" Rick hissed and with that, hayley opened the door as both rick and maggie helped glenn inside.

When they got inside they could see that Glenn was sitting on the ground with Maggie right next to him. while daryl went out to the back to check if they can go out through there but came back with his head shaking "Ain't no way out back here" he muttered. You call this smart?" Rick looked at Hayley, no doubt about it that he's peed off.

she calmly took a deep breath "oh im sorry for thinking, I was just doing something while you were doing nothing" she snapped at him before running her fingers through her hair "we just need to pass through again" "pass through?" "With a few shooting here and there, look I got you this far enough so I think I can get you out again alright?" she told him as she looked out the window and bit her bottom lip.

Soon the whole army of gun men were out, she saw Martinez and merle of course, no sight of the governor yet so maybe that's a good thing right? "Rick, how did you find us?" the dark haird heard Maggie ask and turned around again, watching rick approach her and her boyfriend "How bad is he hurt?" "I'll be alright" Glenn answered as hayley couldn't help but snort _sure you will buddy_

"Looks like his rib could be broken or sprained." rick said softly before glenn spoke up "Daryl, this was Merle." hayley turned her head to the direction of the redneck who's face was just read shock. of course she wasn't shocked that this had happened to glenn considering she even told them beforehand but daryl? the guy who was separated from his brother back at Atalanta? now that's a different story.

"It was. He did this" Glenn went on as daryl just looked at him in shock. "You saw him?" the hunter asked and Glenn nodded. "Face to face. He threw a walker at me. He was gonna execute us." _classic merle_ she thought to herself. nothing was new to her considering she was in that room not once herself and was tortured but she couldn't help but look at daryl, he was just taken aback from everything that was just coming out. like someone just ran him over with a truck and honestly? hayley couldn't help but feel bad for the guy, she wouldn't know how she would feel if she heard if her mom was alive when she was told she was dead.

"S..so my brother's this governor?" Daryl stammered in disbelief but hayley shook her head as she chuckled, causing everyone to look at her "heck no, granted your brother's a tough son of b...|tch but no...he isn't capable of being the governor. merle's just his wingman or something" she said, assuring the redneck who just nodded his head "Does he know I'm still with you?" daryl asked, Maggie nodded and so did Glenn

"He does now. Rick, I'm sorry. We told him where the prison was. We couldn't hold out" he apologized. The policeman knelt down next to him and put a hand on his knee "Don't. No need to apologize." hayley turned her attention to the window, not really paying attention to what the group was talking about. something about daryl wanting to go see his brother which she doesn't blame him for wanting to see him but the redneck was picking the wrong time to want to meet his sibling that's for sure.

the dark haired got so lost in her thoughts about thinking about the governor and the outcomes on what happens if they don't make it out of woodbury, she didn't even notice the group made their way out until she heard a '_bang_' noise from the flash grenades _here goes nothing_ she thought bitterly as she went out. catching up to the group, once rick gave the signal to start shooting, both her and daryl started shooting, thanking herself that she learned how to shoot from her grandfather.

They had made their way around a corner when a guard spotted them with a flashlight. "There they are!"he yelled and more people pointed their guns at the small group. Rick was the first to open fire, a second later Daryl and hayley joined in. all hayley could think about was they won't make it out on time. They could see about three guards on two large school buses which they used as part of the wall, and both Rick and Daryl took aim to shoot them and make it possible for the others to leave the small town. The group stayed together and kept moving, zigzagging their way to the wall and never stopped.

Bullets were flying left and right across the town. Looking as if this was out of a movie. Everyone just shot at each other and nothing else. no calm talking things out, no way. it looked like war. full out war. When they finally got closer and no guards were to be seen on this side of the street they heard shots coming from behind them. When the group turned around they could see that another large number of Woodbury fighters was hiding behind benches, trees and lamp posts on the other side. _you've got to be kidding me_

hayley cursed under her breath as she looked around and found a small alley that was between two houses "over there!" she yelled, pointing over to the alley and ran over to it. that was alot of shooting then she expected it to be and maybe the sheriff was right, maybe this isn't such a good idea but she did get the group in safely right? so she can get them out of here as well.

"How many?" Rick yelled as he reloaded his gun, hayley reloaded her pistol and chewed on her bottom lip "i don't know exactly...twenty...thirty? i don't know" she said "Don't matter. There's gonna be more of them. We need to move" Daryl growled, she looked around and her eyes glued onto the buses that were near the fence "no kidding" she mumbled "only way out is going ontop of those buses, jumping off and running for our lives" she said and looked at the men and then at glenn "think you can shoot?" she asked as glenn nodded his head "good" she said softly, she will of course make sure not to let the guy get hit which is the last thing the group needs as of now.

"Any grenades left?" Rick asked as hayley looked inside the bag rick took with him "not alot, only three left" she said softly and rick nodded his head "Get 'em ready. We gotta gun into the wall!" _let's pray it works buddy_ she thought and moved some of the stray hair in front of her face "You guys go ahead. I'm gonna lay down some cover fire" Daryl muttered which caused the girl to raise her eyebrows "you got to be kidding me, that's putting yourself out there like a plate of chicken or something" she told him.

Daryl shook his head and moved "Too hairy. Someone's gotta cover your asses. I'll be right behind you!" hayley scoffed at disbelief, this guy was seriously nuts. does it run in the dixon family or something? "hope you know what you're doing" she said but of course, the redneck ignored her and threw the smoke grenade, watching him disappear in the cloud of smoke and she followed in foot with the group

The buses eventually appeared in front of them, which meant that they had made it to the wall and of course, the worst thing that can happen is losing amo and quickly that happened to the brunette. Cursing under her breath she looked around, the governors office was not far, she can slip inside for a second and grab some ammo, and possibly stop by to her room and grab her backpack and cross bow? yeah that sounded good. just because she was a bit injured by merle doesn't mean she was a good run right.

she looked over her shoulder as she hid behind a bench and looked at the small group that was going over the buses. good they were making their way out and her job is done. she's not needed anymore but the thought of daryl not being around worried her for some strange reason.

_hurry it up dixon_

Getting up from behind a bench, she sprinted over to the office. the fastest she ever ran in her life and that doesn't count running from walkers, she didn't know if anyone saw her running but she didn't care. she needed her ammo and bow to make it out alive. You would think she got there without getting caught, yeah that's what she thought too until someone grabbed her by her waist and pulled her out of this mess and towards the path of none other then the torture room

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(FINALLY i have updated! im super sorry loves! i feel bad for not updating this story earlier but i wanted to make this chapter pretty good. i kept the dialogue from the episode as well as the whole scene in the episode which is the continuation of episode 8 so we're still in that episode for the next half of the next chapter :) switched things up a bit here and there and i do think i liked how it turned out, but what do you guys think? comment below with your thoughts on the chapter!)


	7. Six

Hayley struggled to get out of the men's grip, groaning in frustration as she tried and tried to get out of his grip. she blamed herself for being skin as bones right now. finally, after a bit of some struggle she finally could elbow the guy in the gut. _Ass_ she thought before heading towards the governors office.

She made sure to be careful when going inside and not be seen, but then again shit was going on outside so she's probably good for a little while until things calm down. grinning, she picked up her backpack and her crossbow, _thank god for grandpa and his camping trips_ she thought to herself before hearing a rattling sound, she knew where it was coming from of course.

slowly, she walked over to the secret room of the governor and opened the door of the safe. swallowing hard as she waited to see the little girl to come out. once the girl, well correction, walker came out of the safe, She took off the cloth from her head and jumped slightly when she tried to bit her finger off.

_God why did this happen to you _she thought sadly.

Why couldn't the governor just put you out of the little girl's misery? instead he kept her as if she was some kind of pet! he wanted the girl to be brought back to life, Which was impossible, gulping she took a deep breath before she took her blade and aimed it at her head "sorry penny" she softly mumbled and was about to put an end to the girl that was needed to be put down ages ago until she heard a heard someone walk in.

She got up and turned to see the governor himself, his face extremely peed off no doubt about it but looked calm which always wasn't good when dealing with the governor. Governor" she said softly while he returned a nod in return "I see you're back" he said while hayley stood behind the walker girl, holding onto her shoulders and just watched the governor. the governor eyeing her every move "no need to do stupid mistakes" "like what? Like sending someone off to kill your own blood?" She asked and held on top of penny's head, all it took was one plunge into the head.

The governor slowly put away his gun that he was holding back into its holster "easy now...lets talk things out.." he said softly, _to late for that_ hayley thought and plunged the knife into the weak skull. This caused the governor to both scream and jump at her and try to aim the gun at her head, luckily when he pulled the trigger he shot the tank full of heads. Causing the water spill out along with some heads to come out but that didn't mean the governor backed down, he was trying his best to end her life by chocking her,

Quickly thinking, she reached her hand out to grab a piece of glass and stabbed it in his eyes, earning a painful scream from him. Quickly getting up, she made her way outside but was caught yet again, this time by martinez

_why me?_

"you're not going anywhere" he hissed and dragged her. She noticed that basically everyone at the prison was gone from her quick scanning of the area, until she saw daryl. _might as well try getting his attention_ she thought before taking a deep breath "Daryl!"

* * *

Soon enough, they were sprinting through the foggy streets, the loud blasting of bullets whizzing past echoing around the night. Daryl attempted to push away the fact that his brother was undoubtedly nearby, though he remained unseen to him. He nearly tripped over his over sized pant leg as a gunman suddenly appeared out of the mist, barrel of a pistol pointed solidly at his forehead.

Daryl carefully aimed the sights of his crossbow before letting a bolt loose, the arrow-like rod tearing through the air and meeting its target. The unfortunate man's chest. He yanked the pointed tip from his skin, ignoring his pleas and cries for help, wailing in pain. His head suddenly whipped around, frantically searching for Hayley, but she was nowhere to be found.

_Damn it, where did she run off to this time_? He asked himself incredulously, raking a hand through his hair. If he lost her, their newest recruit, Rick's trust in him would undoubtedly decrease. Daryl whipped around as he heard Hayley's voice ring out from somewhere within the heavy mists that cloaked Woodbury's streets.

He hastily loaded another bolt into his crossbow, wincing as the ear shattering racket of a gunshot echoed through the air nearby. "Hayley!" He hollered frantically, desperate gaze scanning the area in a frenzied attempt to catch sight of her small frame. _Crap_, he mentally swore, shoveling one large hand through his mussed and dirt slathered hair as he jogged forward.

"Hayley!" He called out again, straining to hear even the slightest indication that she was nearby. The stubborn hick propelled himself towards the sound of a frightened scream, one that was undoubtedly her. An unexpected knot of anger nestled itself within his stomach, rolling and curdling his insides at the thought of her becoming injured. "The hell are you?!" He screamed, cursing as a bullet grazed the muscle of his upper arm. Pain lanced down to his elbow as the skin ripped, and he let out an agonized groan, but pressed onward.

A foreboding thought of Merle suddenly passed through the drowsy fabric of his mind, he persistently shoved his doubts away to where they couldn't bother him. Daryl nearly collapsed in relief as he caught sight of a petite form struggling against what looked like a man's hold, and he hurled himself towards them faster than he could think. "Put 'er down," he ordered firmly, carefully aiming his crossbow at Martinez's skull, poised and ready to shoot if it came to that.

"I see you got yourself a friend hay's" Martinez chuckled "just let me go, you don't get shot with an arrow, I don't feed your balls to a walker and we're good. now put me down!" she yelled, close to blowing up really "now, now, what would dear daddy say if he saw you like this?" "wouldn't give a damn really" she muttered with an eyeroll.

Daryl watched in anger as Martinez swung her over his broad shoulder, feeling irritation writhe at his chest, flushing his cheeks a deep, ugly red. "I reckon you should put her down, you taco eatin' pansy, before I make you," he threatened smoothly, blinking away the lukewarm liquid that sprung in the back of his eyes at the heavy fog that stung and poked at his vision. "now, either we do this the easy way with your friend going off or he's coming with us" "or how about I bash your face, that sounds more like fun!" she fake smiled up the Hispanic before being pulled along with him. her eyes widening as she saw a guy behind daryl "daryl!"

He flung himself around as he heard Hayley's frantic warning, feeling another presence approaching from behind him, and walloped the front of his crossbow into his attackers forehead, knocking them out cold. "Now, as I was sayin'. Hand her over before things get ugly," he repeated rigidly, lining the sights of his crossbow at Martinez's head, prepared to slaughter him where he stood.

He rolled his shoulders as he felt the familiar warmth of blood trickling down his arm, seeping from the gouge of his flesh that had been sliced open. "I won't say it again!" He snarled hoarsely, biting down forcefully at the side of his cheek. "And I don't plan on goin' anywhere with you, or lettin' 'er get hauled off by your sorry ass," he muttered gratingly, throwing worried glances at Hayley every few seconds.

"just do what he says I mean, its a win win you know. you live, I live, we all live hehe...I feel like getting a cup of coffee now. lets go get some" hayley chuckled nervously and nodded her head "since when did your life depend on another person? where's tough Hayley? the daughter of a tough guy huh?" she just rolled her eyes at his comment. she groaned and looked up at Martinez "I sleep with you if you just let me go"

Daryl stiffened as she told Martinez that she was willing to sleep with him, his grip unintentionally tightening on his crossbow. "You really do have half a brain, don't you?" He jeered at him as Martinez chuckled and shook his head "sorry, not after you turned me down last time, I moved on now what do you think we should do with you?" "allow me to cut your off?" "cute" he muttered.

daryl raised a brow as he set her down onto the pavement. _The hell is he doin'?_ He thought dubiously, nearly choking as he felt a figure roughly push past him, knocking him in the shoulder as he did so. _The Governor_, he realized darkly, jaw firmly setting itself. the governor looked rather inconspicuous, far more authoritative and had a bandage around his right eye

"now I think you should introduce me to your new friend Hayley" "fuck off" "now now, that's not the right way to treat someone who took care of you" "go die in hell ok? when's the last time you ever thought about family huh? last time I remember, when penny got bit you lost it. heck you said not to kill her" she said but didn't stop "what would penny say if she saw you right now?" "she would be scared" "cant blame her really, cause I don't remember sweet daddy being nice anymore" she said, chuckling and nodding her head.

The enraged man watched as the argument between him and Hayley unfolded, feeling shock thunder through his veins as she called him her father. He bit his tongue, indiscreetly forcing back his troubled inquiries about the subject, and instead focused back on the anger that was twisting at his insides. "that's right, you don't remember me calling you that in the long time huh dad? father? daddykins?" hayely mumbled.

Daryl screamed a warning at The Governor as he pointed the barrel of his pistol at the side of her head, feeling his vision darken at the blood curdling anger that shuddered through his system at the thought of her coming to any harm. He sturdily launched himself forward, coiled fist meeting Hayley's dad's cheek in a rough, skin splitting blow.

They both fell to the ground, Daryl's mountainous figure looming over him as his fingers grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked him forward, so that their noses were hardly an inch apart. "Don't even think about layin' a finger on 'er, or you'll be dead before you got the chance to blink, you sick bastar.d!"

Daryl could hardly hear Hayley murmur his name through the enraged fog that was clouding his mind, causing the world around him to become an indistinct, muffled blur of movement and unclear objects. the governor just smirked and chuckled lowly "not bad for a Dixon" he said and glanced over at Hayley "you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, should have allowed me to meet him first" he said as Martinez grabbed Hayley

"I don't have to introduce no one to nobody," he spat, the deep brogue of his voice turning low and gritty. "And I ain't her boyfriend," he corrected tartly, feeling the odd sensation of his stomach flipping at the suggestion. He was doing this just so Rick wouldn't beat his face in and leave him to the walkers, right?

Or was it for a deeper, more personal reason? A reason that, no matter how hard he tried to think through it, couldn't place. She intrigued him, that was for certain, but he never would of thought that he'd have the unwilling need to protect her when she was threatened.

"but how about you leave me to talk with him" Before he had the chance to object or defend himself, he felt the pain of a well aimed punch jerk into his stomach, causing his blue eyes to narrow and his sight to become obscured by red. "Damn, you gotta good arm," he commented, letting out a low wail of anger as he felt the backside of a hard, sturdy object slam against his skull.

His knees buckled in on themselves and he clumsily toppled onto the street, rocks and shards of glass digging uncomfortably into the skin on his arms and cheeks. His vision began to wink in and out of darkness, the words spoken between The Governor and Martinez becoming muddled echoes. He listened closely for the soothing sound of Hayley's voice, but heard nothing, and his mind languidly shut down and everything snapped to black.

* * *

(ta-dah! that's hayley's little secret! she's the daughter of the governor. yes a bit cheesy to pick that plot idea up but picking the idea of her actually being his mistress sounded to obvious in a way as well so picked that being his daughter would be more drama packed :) so hopefully you guys enjoyed this little chapter and can comment your thoughts down below :) also do dedicate this whole series for reddheart on polyvore for being the small inspiration for the story :).)


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